HEAT-PISTON NOTEBOOK

MIAMI – As the hours ticked down to the tip-off of last night’s Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals, Heat coach Stan Van Gundy called on Shaquille O’Neal to be the beast of the boards, to have a throwback game to his glorious playoff past.

With Dwyane Wade likely hampered by his rib strain last night, Van Gundy knew Shaq needed be the old Shaq. Problem is, he is getting old, now 33, his bruised thigh perhaps the first sign his 7-1, 330-pound body is breaking down.

“I’d love to see one of those 15-16-rebound nights he’s had in previous playoffs,” Van Gundy said.

Van Gundy didn’t get his wish. Shaq scored 27 points, but grabbed only nine rebounds as the Heat lost, 88-82.

O’Neal went into last night’s game averaging 19.5 points in the East finals, but just 7.3 boards (7.4 for the playoffs). That was well below his career playoff averages of 27.2 points and 12.9 boards.

Last night, when the Pistons were taking control in the second quarter, Shaq allowed Elden Campbell to slip by him for an offensive rebound that led to a Chauncey Billups 3-pointer. Shaq’s first quarters in this series have been brilliant and last night was no exception: he rolled for 10 points, mostly on dunks. But he managed just two points in the second period.

O’Neal had played three Game 7s in his career before last night and had been victorious in all of them, winning twice with the Lakers and beating Larry Brown once when Orlando advanced to the NBA Finals over Indiana in 1995.

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Tayshaun Prince, Lindsey Hunter and Elden Campbell of the Pistons were involved in a car accident Sunday night in Miami, but none of the players were injured and all played last night.

The players were leaving a restaurant, using a car service, when they were struck by another vehicle, Campbell said. They had taken a taxi to the restaurant.

“It was actually funny, not scary,” Campbell said. “It wasn’t anything major because nobody got hurt, and we still got home in the SUV with dented-in doors.”

with AP reports